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Wednesday | May 26 | 2010

The legend of Goopy Gyne

and Bagha Byne
With Tapen Chattopadhyay’s death an era has come to an end. But all those who grew up with the immortal
characters of Goopy and Bagha will take solace in the fact that Goopy has finally joined Bagha in the happy
land of ghosts where they shall lighten up the world beyond with their sense of humour and music
of all dissent. The final scene of Hirak Rajar Deshe
where liberated subjects rush out and pull down
giant statues of Hirok Raja while singing “Dori
dhore maaro taan, Raja hobe khaankhaan” (Pull at
the rope and destroy the power of the king) was
Ray’s prophecy for the regimes that ruled
through the “cult of the personality” and within
a few years identical scenes would be repeated
across Europe as the Berlin Wall, statues of Lenin
and Ceaucescu would come down in exactly the
Arnab Ray same way.
The last movie of the trilogy Goopy Bagha

W
aking up and reading about the
demise of Tapen Chattopadhyay, the
Bengali actor famous for playing the
role of Goopy Gyne in Satyajit Ray’s Goopy-Bagha
trilogy for children (the last was directed by
Sandip Ray based on a story written by Satyajit
Ray), the first thing I thought, like countless of
Bengali people of my generation, was: “Goopy will
sing no more”.
Rabi Ghosh, the freakishly gifted actor who
played Goopy’s partner Bagha Byne, died 10 years
ago. But since he played many other memorable
comic characters in Bengali movies, the conceptu-
al connection between him and Bagha was not so
‘one-to-one’ as that between Tapen and Goopy Gyne.
Today with Tapen Chattopadhyay's death, how-
ever, one also remembers Rabi Ghosh and the part-
nership they forged as Goopy-Bagha, the endear-
ing musical superheroes who would always save
the day, no matter the odds. The sadness we feel
today is not only for the passing of a true artiste
but also that of a magical age when movies were
works of art, stories were true and simple, soul
ruled over special effects, and characters stayed
in our hearts long after the end credits had rolled.
Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1968), the first in the
trilogy based on characters created by Satyajit Ray’s
grandfather Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury,
was one of the first movies I ever saw in a cine-
ma theatre, that air-conditioned house of light and
shadow where I would enter a few Sundays in a
year, clutching Baba’s sleeve in one hand and in
the other a trusty Kwality Choco-bar, my most
favorite ice-cream in the whole wide world.
For those who do not know the legend of
Goopy-Bagha, a little introduction. Singer Goopy
and drummer Bagha were rural simpletons with
two common traits, an unquenchable desire to
express themselves musically and a total lack of
any talent. Thrown out from their respective vil-
lages by angry citizens and the king for their tune-
less singing and rhythmless drumming, they
retired to the forest. There, however, their
singing and drumming was music to the ear of
the King of Ghosts and his army of happy spir-
its. Being denizens of a higher plane of existence,
they appreciated the netherworldly charms of
Goopy and Bagha’s music and broke into a grand
group dance.
Pleased by their ability, the King of Ghosts
granted the duo three wishes — the ability to get
any clothes and any food they want by merely
clapping their hands, a pair of golden shoes by
which they could be teleported anywhere in the
world, and the power to make such beautiful
music that would make people stay frozen to the
spot (shades of Harry Potter’s Petrificus Totalus).
Armed with these magic spells, Goopy and
Bagha walked the Earth till they came to Shundi,
a peaceful kingdom under threat from the king-
dom of Halla. There with the help of song, dance,
Rabi Ghosh and Tapen Chattopadhyay, the endearing musical superheroes who would always save the day, in Satyajit Ray’s epic film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne
much bumbling and laughter, Goopy and Bagha
spoil the plans of the evil war-mongering Minister
of Halla, the person who was precipitating the con-
flict restore peace to the world and get married
to the princesses.
I saw Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne in 1979 when
I was four years old. I don’t remember much of
what exactly I loved but I do remember laughing
through all of it. After all a movie with magic,
beautiful songs, the antics of Goopy and Bagha,
the dance of fat ghosts and memorably funny evil
characters just could not go wrong. It was, how-
ever, on subsequent viewings of this classic, and
I have seen it many times, that I not only saw the
political subtext but appreciated the subtle
nuances of Satyajit Ray’s craft — his ability of
underplaying humour and his use of irony, the
poetry of the songs and the beauty of the music
(he was the lyricist and music director), the genius
of the “dance of the ghosts” special effects and
the magical “bringing-a-lump-to-the-throat”
sequence when at the crack of dawn, Goopy and
Bagha discover their metamorphosis into actual
musicians, their faces alight with wonder, catch-
ing the rays of the Sun as Anup Ghosal’s ethere-
al voice sings “Dekho re nayan mele jogoter bahaar”
(Open your eyes and witness the beauty of the
world), the most beautifully symbolic depiction
THE SADNESS WE FEEL TODAY IS Chattopadhyay and Rabi Ghosh came on the
screen, in full colour, the entire hall exploded. In
NOT ONLY FOR THE PASSING OF this instalment, Goopy and Bagha lock horns with
A TRUE ARTISTE BUT ALSO THAT the evil Hirok Raja (made unforgettable by the
genius of Utpal Datta), a king who with the help
OF A MAGICAL AGE WHEN of an equally wicked scientist-magician has made
a brainwashing machine into which he throws in
MOVIES WERE WORKS OF ART, his subjects and makes them into zombies. Then
they are put to work in diamond mines, minting
STORIES WERE TRUE AND money for him. Goopy and Bagha join hands with
SIMPLE, SOUL RULED OVER the dissident Udayan Pandit, played by Ray
favourite Soumitro Chatterjee, who is Hirok Raja’s
SPECIAL EFFECTS, AND enemy numero uno because he wants the citizens
of the kingdom to be educated and liberated in
CHARACTERS STAYED IN OUR spirit, something that Hirok Raja dreads. And
again after a series of hilarious adventures, includ-
HEARTS LONG AFTER THE ing Goopy Bagha’s run-in with a tiger and the evil
magician and his machine, Hirok Raja and his
END CREDITS HAD ROLLED band of sycophantic Ministers are overthrown and
happiness reigns.
of artistic awakening I have seen captured on Hirok Rajar Deshe might not have the joyous
screen, a cinematic equivalent of Rabindranath simplicity of Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne but it more
Tagore’s ‘Nirjhorer Sopnobhongo’. than makes up for it with its astringent satire and
In 1980, the sequel Hirok Rajar Deshe (In the more nuanced political undertones, Hirok Raja
Land of the Diamond King) was released, 12 years being the archetypal corrupt and megalomaniac
after the original. The expectation was thick in the totalitarian ruler, who bases his rule on the ‘brain-
air, cinema halls were booked full. I remember washing’ power of propaganda, mis-education, re-
going in with my parents and the moment Tapen writing of history and the merciless suppression
Phire Elo (1991) was a disappointment. Directed
by Sandip Ray, based on a story by Satyajit Ray at
a time when the master was seriously ill, it did
not match up cinematically to the standards of the
preceding two. Storywise, it was excellent though-
being the darkest of the three. Goopy and Bagha
are getting old and when another evil sorcerer
promises to turn their ages back by 20 years if they
steal for him, they give in to the dark side of the
force. But they ultimately realise the folly of their
ways, guided by their moral compass — the King
of the Ghosts — and foil the plans of the evil sor-
cerer. Goopy Bagha Phire Elo was beautiful in that
it captured the tragedy of aging brilliantly with a
sequence where Goopy and Bagha make peace
with the inevitability of old age by saying “As long
as one gets wiser and earns more respect, grow-
ing old is actually a step up”. Such moments of
brilliance were however few and far in between,
the acting from the side characters overtly the-
atrical, the direction from Sandip Ray not as sharp
and the music, the life-blood of the series, quite
definitely weak in comparison to the previous two.
So what was the secret behind the success of
the characters of Goopy and Bagha? First of all,
they were golden-hearted simpletons — one could
empathise with them far easier than with two
other popular literary creations of Ray — the
super-genius Shanku and the uber-cool Feluda.
Second, Tapen Chattopadhyay and Rabi Ghosh
were masterful actors with brilliant comic timing,
their chemistry unsurpassed and I wonder
whether anyone else could have breathed so much
life into these characters as they did. Third, Goopy
and Bagha captured the essential Bengali charac-
ter — they would break out of prison by offering
the guard a tasty head of fish and stop wars by rain-
ing magical milk-based sweets from the heavens.
And like Bengalis, they had the wanderlust, wan-
dering from place to place: Bonete, pahare,
moruprantore (in the forest, in the mountains and
in the desert) whenever they felt frustrated with
life. Food, sleep, travel and music — that was all
they had and all they wanted. What could be more
heroic to a Bengali than that?
The characters we grow up with become an
intrinsic part of who we are. So it is only natur-
al that the demise of the faces we associate with
those characters will cause us sorrow. At the same
time, let us, however, take solace in the fact that
Goopy has finally joined Bagha in the happy land
of the ghosts where they shall lighten up the world
beyond with their sense of humour and song.
And maybe another generation of Goopys and
Baghas, while wandering into the forest or surf-
ing on Youtube, will encounter the King of Ghosts
and be blessed once again with the “jobor jobor
teen bor” (Three Great Blessings) of friendship,
music and innocence.
(Arnab Ray is the author of the book May I
Hebb Your Attention Pliss published by
HarperCollins.)

For Manmohan Singh, equivocation is policy!

The Prime Minister’s remarks on Pakistan and Maoists do not bode well, writes B Raman

P
rime Minister Manm-
ohan Singh addressed
a Press conference on
Monday to mark the completion
of one year in office of the sec-
ond UPA Government. Hopes
that he will be more forthcom-
ing than he usually is on matters
of concern to the people such as
the internal security situation
and India’s relations with
Pakistan were belied. He was
evasive and avoided going into
specifics. This has led to consid-
erable criticism.
It would be unfair to say
that Mr Singh has not had
achievements to his credit
during the six years he has
been in office. He has had. The
economy has been in good
shape without being affected
seriously by the global melt-
down. Greater attention has
been paid to the problems of
the common man. India’s rela-
tions with the United States
have improved without affect-
ing its relations with Russia. It
has maintained its interest in
Afghanistan without being
deterred by terrorist attacks on
the Indian mission in Kabul
and without letting itself be
forced by the American pres-
sure to reduce its presence in
that country to address
Pakistani concerns. Frictions
over border and security-relat-
ed issues have not been
allowed to come in the way of
the developing economic rela-
tions with China. Following the
Copenhagen Summit, the com-
fort level between India and
China has increased. Relations
with Sri Lanka have improved
and India has played a quiet
role in ensuring the defeat of
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam without losing sight of
the interests of the Tamils.
Relations with Bangladesh are
in a better shape than before
with greater attention to
India’s security concerns by the
Government in Dhaka. Despite
misunderstanding with the
Maoists of Nepal, India has not
lost the goodwill of the politi-
cal class in Nepal. The low-pro-
file relations with Myanmar
have served India’s security
interests. Relations with
Bhutan, the Maldives, the
ASEAN countries and Japan
continue to improve. While
maintaining its interest in the
countries to the East of India,
the nation has been paying
more attention to the countries
to the West of India. The Look
East policy has been supple-
mented by a much-needed
Look West policy. India is
accepted as a benign regional
power though there is contin-
uing scepticism over its capa-
bility to play the role of a glob-
al power on par with China.
Lack of public enthusiasm
over Mr Singh’s policies have
been confined to his handling
of Pakistan’s use of terrorism
against India and the increase
in Maoist activities. His desire
for better relations with Paki-
stan in spite of its continuing
use of terrorism against India
to achieve a change in the sta-
tus quo in Jammu & Kashmir
came out clearly at the Press
conference. What one finds
disturbing is his tendency to ro-
manticise India’s relation with
Pakistan and his ill-conceived
assertion that India’s emer-
gence as a major power
depended on better relations
with Pakistan. This is likely to
be misinterpreted in Islamabad
as indicating that its use of ter-
rorism against India has start-
ed paying dividends. There
will be more and not less ter-
rorism as a result of Mr Singh’s
penchant for softness towards
Pakistan. Ever since he took
over as the Prime Minister in
2004, one has not come across
a single statement of his indi-
cating in clear terms what
India can do and what it will
not do to improve relations
with Pakistan.
There has been an unfor-
tunate impression in Pakistan
that Mr Singh does not attach
the same seriousness to
Pakistan’s use of terrorism
against India as large sections
of our public and political class
do. Unless this impression is
corrected through a clear enun-
ciation of our policy, we are not
going to have any respite from
Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
This is not an argument
against talks with Pakistan.
This is an argument to hold our
feet firmly to the ground while
talking to Pakistan and to
avoid talks based on illusions.
This is an argument to under-
line that Mr Singh, as the
Prime Minister, has an impor-
tant responsibility to protect
the lives and property of his
people from acts of terrorism
sponsored by Pakistan. The
exercise of this responsibility
should have greater priority
over any goodwill for Pakistan.
His conviction that India’s
rise as a major power depends
on better relations with
Pakistan is not totally correct.
Better relations with Pakistan
will definitely help, but the
absence of it will not mean
the end of the world for India.
We have reached where we
are today despite our bad
relations with Pakistan and
we can continue to keep mov-
ing forward even if there is no
significant improvement in
the bilateral relations. Talk to
Pakistan, but avoid the
defeatist impression that talk-
ing to Pakistan is the only sal-
vation for India. It is not.
His remarks on the Maoist
challenge brought out clearly
the bureaucrat-turned-politi-
cian in him and not the states-
man. The realisation that the
Maoist problem is no longer a
localised regional problem was
missing in his remarks. It has
become a political and human-
itarian challenge and a securi-
ty problem with pan-Indian
dimensions that has to be
dealt with at a pan-Indian
level. A pan-Indian response to
this challenge has to come
from New Delhi and the Prime
Minister has to play the lead-
ership role in the search for
such a response.
His remarks on relations
with Pakistan and on the
Maoist issue do not bode well
for our success in dealing with
these two challenges to our
national security in an effec-
tive manner.
(The writer, a for mer
senior official with R&AW, is a
noted security expert.)